17 March, 2018 @ 7:00 pm - 18 March, 2018 @ 2:00 am

Ballarat’s newest venue is not what it seems. Behind the glitz and allure of the façade, a clock without hands spins endlessly, lights turn on and off and the walls surround the visitor with menace. The audience become a shadow of themselves; while seated in front of the projections, they become the gambler. You’ll be sorry you ever stepped foot in the place.
This work is both confronting and thought provoking, a audio-visual dissection of deception by design and how we, as humans, react to the unconscionable conduct of gambling agencies. Poker Machines are designed to be addictive, controlled to play to our weaknesses and made to exploit the most vulnerable in our community. These artists Christine Tammer, Annie Drum and Erin McCuskey have developed a work that will both delight and horrify.

Christine Tammer’s soundtrack is insightful and abrasive. It demands we enter this flashy world many of us recoil from. Erin M McCuskey has created nightmarish, garish visions that glue our eyes open, against our impulse to turn a blind eye.

Christine Tammer is a composer, librettist and improviser who’s traversing genre with her new cabaret, The Venue. It’s a new work that plumbs the depth of gambling and poker addiction. Erin M McCuskey is a film artist and transmedia auteur of Luxville working at the intersection of cinema and art. They are working with Annie Drum as a librettist and Megan Riedl as producer for Tripwire Theatre Inc.